Why Vitani turned on Zira
by Yeye anaawangazia
Summary: Simba asks Vitani why she accepted Kiara's rationale for peace rather than continuing her mother's war. Her response to him is insightful and suprising. A Lion king 2 fanfic. Set three days after end of the movie.


**Disclaimer: Disney owns the Lion king 1 and 2, not me.**

It had been 72 hours since Zira had died, and the Outlanders and Pridelanders united. Vitani, the second child of Scar and Zira after Nuka, and half-sister to Kovu, sat on the top of Pride Rock. She was lookin at the stars with a sad look on her face. The reason for this depression was three-fold. Her maniacal brother Nuka, had died trying to please her hateful, abusive mother. Vitani had taunted Nuka over his desire to be the chosen one. She said contemptuously that he would never measure up to Scar or kovu. When he died, she deeply regretted her mockery. Two, Zira had refused to abandon her delusional loyalty to scar, rejecting both Simba's overture, and Kiara's aid when she was hanging from the cliff. As such, she had been crushed to death by the logs of the river she'd fallen into. In spite of her own mother threatening to kill her, the brash lioness still loved her mother, and missed her deeply. Perhaps not coincidentally, Zira and Nuka, both resentful and vengeful, died the same exact way. Finally, Vitani was feeling increasingly envious of her adoptive brother and sister-in-law. When blindly following Zira, the idea of love never crossed her mind. But now that she had seen through her mother's lies, and after witnessing the care and devotion Kovu and Kiara had for each other, she longed for a romantic partner of her own. Heck, she even desired for Cubs, wanting to emulate Simba and Nala's paternal attitude to all members their pride. Not to mention his mother, Sarabi.

The old lioness was like a wisdom sage; she offered guidance and advice to all who asked for it. That noon, she had kindly approached Vitani as she drank from a waterhole. Apparently, her grandmother-in-law had sensed she was troubled and told her that she was there to help her if she needed it. Vitani had thanked Sarabi warmly for her olive branch, and told her she would ask to speak with her when she was ready. Suddenly, Vitani was interrupted by familiar footsteps and a familiar voice.

"Vitani."

"Oh, hello your majesty."

Vitani, turned around, facing her king, and crouching in reverence.

"You don't need to grovel before me Vitani, you're family just call me Simba", the son of Mufasa kindly explained. Vitani gave him a thankful smile and the asked him why he was there. Honestly, being around him or any other Pridelanders, was very awkward. Not just for her, but all the Outsiders. To go from enemies to friends overnight would definitely take some getting used to. Luckily both Simba's Pride and Scars Pride were willing to make an effort to instill comradarie rather than resume hostilities.

Simba explained that he wanted to ask her two important questions, and as her king she was obliged to answer. She responded that she had no problem answering his inquiries, and that he didn't need to to use his authority to compel her to do so.

"The first thing I wanted to ask you is why, precisely, did you abandon your mother's wretched cause? What was it about my daughters words that convinced you?"

"The lion's face was calm, but serious, and his voice gentle but demanding. Vitani wasn't suprised he'd ask this; her heel-face turn did seem abrupt. She didn't need to time to think of how to answer Simba's question.

"My mother promised us that following Scar, remaining loyal to him, and avenging his death would lead the Outlanders to glory and prosperity. I foolishly and blindly followed her every order. And as I'm sure you know, her path brought us nothing but an arid wasteland, starvation, thirst, and the death of my biological brother. I saw, thanks to Kiara and my brother Kovu, that continuing down this road would result in the death of myself and my Mother's sisters. Zira's threat to kill me if I wouldn't fight all but confirmed this. It also made me finally reach another realization."

"And what might that be?", Simba asked his daughter in-law, somewhat suprised to learn that Zira's lionesses were also related to her.

"That even though she loved us, -she was genuinely devastated when Nuka died- ,getting revenge outweighed the well-being of her family. She would have gotten us all killed if meant reclaiming the Pridelands. We took a backseat to her suicidal goals. I'm sorry I didn't realize it before."

Simba was shocked to hear that Zira had mourned the death of her and Scar's eldest child. He had assumed that, like Scar with the hyenas, Zira viewed her lioness comrades as nothing more than tools to be used and discarded at will. It deeply saddened him that her hate for him and his family outweighed the love for her own.

"At least you saw the error of your ways, unlike your mother and father. It's never too late to redeem yourself. Kiara taught me that as well as you. I was so blinded by fear of losing my daughter, by my hate of your family, and by a desire to be like my father, that I became an unjust tyrant just like Scar."

"You're nothing like him, Simba!", Vitani said firmly, with a frown on her face. He smiled at her and said, "Thank you, my daughter-in-law, but you're wrong. I treated Kiara like a prisoner in her own home. And worse than that, I believed Zira when she said kovu led me into that trap, and exiled him without hearing his side of the story. It hurt me deeply when Kiara said I would never be Mufasa, but she was right. It was the wake-up call and slap in the face that I needed. I was trying to gain back what I had lost, and in the process almost lost what I had left."

"But unlike Scar, you accepted the second chance given to you Simba, by your daughter no less."

" Exactly, Vitani. Kiara's the real heroine here. If not for her, our prides would have killed each other. She told me that Kovu wanted to run away with her and start their own pride."

"One lioness, convincing two entire prides to end their Battle, your daughter may be the strongest lioness I've ever met" Vitani complimented.

"I'm sure Kiara would appreciate your kind words", Simba responded. "Now", he continued. " The second thing I wanted to ask you is-"

"Why am I so depressed?", Vitani interjected. "That's something I want to talk to you and your mother, Sarabi, about. Would you mind escorting me, kind sir?", she asked jokingly. Simba gave her a humorous smile, and said, "It would be my pleasure lady Vitani."

The two started to walk off, when the daughter of the late Zira suddenly nuzzled him under his bottom jaw.

"Thank you for being willing to make peace with my family Simba. It was your compassion for us, your sworn enemies and followers of your wicked uncle, that also convinced me to abandon my mother's blood feud. It wasn't just your daughter Kiara", Vitani explained in a thankful tone.

"N-No problem", Simba replied, his voice just as incredulous as his face.

 ** _I_ hope you all enjoyed this oneshot, which their will be a sequel to. I'd always felt that Vitani's rejection of her mother's** **foolish crusade was unexplained and too out of the blue. I watched a video about Vitani on YouTube by Wotso Videos, which explained the rationale expertly. For those who don't know, Ni means am, like I am, and Vita means war. So this gruff lioness's name means 'I am war'.**


End file.
